On the Philosophy of the Ritual Warrior
Introduction Being a Ritual Warrior is not a hobby, job, or role in society. It is a sacred calling, a path to Truth, to Individual Evolution, and potentially to Perfection itself. A Warrior in the truest and highest sense is a Ritual Warrior. Combat is not mere violent activity nor even a set of planned fighting actions. True Combat is a Sacred Process, a means to achieve physical, mental, and spiritual goals that are far beyond simple military matters. The Warrior is not merely an actor, agent, or mover of things. He is an embodiment of energy, of Pure Intent crystallized into Sacred Action. This Sacredness is raised to its ultimate level in the Rites, also called Ritual Forms. Each motion in a fighting sequence or Ritual Form must be pure. The Rite is a spiritual opus, each part perfectly orchestrated, timed, coordinated, and intentionally driven. Every Combat motion should be totally focused on its purpose. This is especially fulfilled in the Ritual Forms. For this reason, a person cannot Truly and Rightly take part in Combat until they have been properly trained in mind, body, and spirit. The goal of Combat is not victory but Perfection. Victory is a mundane side effect of the Perfection and effectiveness of the Warrior’s actions. One who is simply wielding some armament is not doing Combat but is only wasting energy and flailing in the wind. They may do damage to others or things, but they are not pursuing the Right goal. They are not pursuing Truth; they are only pursuing victory. Victory is of the world, and all such gains will pass away. Truth is Eternal and Timeless and cannot be lost. A Weapon is not a tool or a simple object, to be manipulated by a fighting person. It is a pathway for Energy and Intention. Through perfection of Form, the Weapon transmits Energy most efficiently. This maximizes the attainment of the Intention. Dimensions of the Forms The furthest end or Point of a Weapon is not merely for entrance into an opponent or piercing of armor but is the focus of a spatial Form. Let your eyes follow the Point in space and you will see the outlines of the Form. The Point is the key for understanding the Form. This has a mental aspect, as the mind guides the Point along the Form. A Blade is not merely for division of an opponent or slashing of their parts. A Blade is a Point movement captured in a metal space. Each curve of a Blade is artfully contrived to express a solid, special, intentional Form. The shape of the Blade is the key for understanding this type of Form. This has a physical aspect as the material is shaped to embody its Form. Likewise a Shaft or handle is plant-life Intent captured in a wooden history. To this is added the artisan’s Intent as the Shaft is sculpted to take part in the Form. Each Weapon has its essential parts, each embodying the desired Forms in the appropriate materials. Rock, metal, wood, rope, and so on each provide a physical, material space in which the Form is expressed to provide the optimal path for the Energy, and subsequently, the Intention. The Warrior, in moving a Weapon, multiplies its solid Form by the Point’s own Form in space, delivering the Energy. This multiplies two aspects: physical times mental. The Warrior, as he executes the movements and Rites, provides yet a third multiplier in spiritual space, where he constructs a Form of Intention. As the Warrior begins, executes, and ends these Sacred Processes, he experiences Truth in all its dimensions. This yields the matured and perfected result, which is spiritual, times physical, times mental, multiplied through Time. This final product is sometimes termed the Quadrature of True Combat. Evolution Through awareness of, and Intentional focus on, the physical, mental, and spiritual elements of these Sacred Processes, the Warrior is exposed to the total Truth embodied in the Forms and most especially the Rites. As his life proceeds, it develops a Form of its own, which evolves to its own Perfection. Without the training, awareness and perfection of the Forms and Rites, this essential knowledge and experience would pass by the fighter unnoticed. He would thus remain un-evolved. It is for this reason that the average person who uses arms in some crude fashion, is totally unaware that their Intention and the actions they are doing could have led them out of Ignorance and into increasing acquisition of the Truth. Thus they fail either to perform True Combat or to evolve into the Perfect Warrior. The personality of individual Ritual Warriors can modify and extend this philosophy in its realization, as they choose to focus on the Glory of the Forms, the Rightness of the Forms, or the Perfection of the Forms. These three themes again represent the physical, mental and spiritual dimensions in a special fashion and relationship. Ritual Warrior Paths The Glory ''path focuses on the physical and mental aspects. Any thinking being who watches and analyzes the Forms can appreciate the Glory embodied therein. The ''Rightness ''path emphasizes the physical and spiritual. Anyone who has spiritual understanding can perceive how Right it is to execute the Forms with perfection. The path of such a Warrior often results in ethical evolution. The third path, ''Perfection, includes all three aspects and reaches the highest heights of transformation and development. There is a fourth path, the existence of which has been debated for many centuries. If the spiritual and mental aspects are the main focus then theoretically the Warrior could eventually reach perfection in them with little or no need for physical action. The Sacred Exercises and Rites would be performed in a place that has no appearance to the normal senses. It is uncertain whether anyone has ever successfully pursued this fourth way, sometimes called the ''Mystic ''path. There is at least one unconfirmable rumor of a Mystic Ritual Warrior who attained this ability to perform the Sacred Rites without physical movement, which allowed him to execute them flawlessly and at virtually infinite speed. He was reputed to have vanquished an entire army while peacefully meditating, seated alone under an oak tree. Supposedly, his personal experience of so much Truth and Perfection in such a short time caused him to overreach physicality and vanish from normal existence. Whether such a being could ever return from that state is unknown. --=#=-- Category:Classes Category:Content